Descent by James A. Hunter & Aaron Crash

Author:James A. Hunter & Aaron Crash
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fantasy
Publisher: Shadow Alley Press
Published: 2018-06-11T23:00:00+00:00

EIGHTEEN

Temple Run

Damn, she’d really backed me into a corner. My mind whirled as I tried to think of any way to avoid risking the Amazons. But I couldn’t see a way out. I couldn’t kill her, which left either playing the game or trying to torture an answer out of her—and that I didn’t have the stomach for. “Fine,” I growled, slamming the War Blade home in its sheath. “I’ll play. What do you have in mind? Parcheesi? Please let it be Parcheesi—’cause I’ll rock your socks at Parcheesi.”

“I’m not sure what this Parcheesi is,” she said slowly, “but I had something more”—she slipped over and ran her fingers across my chest—“physical in mind.”

I could only imagine what Loxo would say to that and was suddenly glad the Huntress was passed out cold.

“Physical,” I repeated flatly, folding my arms. “Look, if you want to arm wrestle, I’m all for it, but past that I’m on the fence.”

“Oh no, War God.” She slipped her fingers from my chest to my arm and ushered me over to the bottom of the rustic staircase I’d seen during my fall.

The oracle stepped away from me. “You are very strong. But are you fleet? I propose a race. We will sprint to the top of the temple. It is exactly one mile up the treacherous staircase. There are traps. There are waterfalls. It is dangerous, reckless, which makes it all the more thrilling. The first one to drink from the golden goblet of ambrosia sitting on the table in my pavilion wins.”

I recalled seeing her pavilion on top of the temple on our way in.

“Okay,” I said, bobbing my head as I eyeballed the staircase. “A race. I can get on board with that, though there are two things I’d like to know. One, are you going to play fair?” I asked, thrusting a finger into the air. “And two, is the ambrosia poisoned?” A second finger joined the first.

She watched me with golden eyes, split vertically down the center. “Yes, I will play fair to a certain extent. And no, I will not poison you. If you drink of the ambrosia before I do, you and your Amazons will be free, and I will answer one question. If I taste the nectar of the gods first, then you lose and your Amazons perish. I swear to the terms of this contract on the River Styx—which as you know, is a vow that cannot be broken.” She bent, undid her sandals, and kicked them off her feet. I noticed that her otherwise normal toes ended in curved cat’s claws.

“Yeah, okay, the River Styx,” I said. “Fine. I swear to the terms.” I clapped my hands together, feeling a flutter of anxious excitement in my gut. “So, when do we start?”

“Now!” she hissed with a grin.

And then she was off, darting up the first of the wooden steps.

Total cheater.

But what else had I expected from a cat oracle with too much time on her hands? I figured she hadn’t won anything in a long time, and she damn sure wanted to win this race.

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